The huarache at Tacos La Gloria.
Photograph by José R. Ralat
If you’ve heard of huaraches, you’re probably more familiar with the footwear than the food. Huaraches are a deceptively simple, comfortable type of woven-top leather sandal from Mexico. (The word directly translates to “sandal” from the indigenous Purépecha language of Michoacán.) Huaraches are also one of the myriad dishes prepared from corn masa, alongside tacos, machetes, gorditas, sopes, tlacoyos, and more. The food gets its name from its oblong, sandal-like shape; like the shoe, the dish is more complex than it may seem at first.